Three shocking stories have emerged from across Australia recently, exposing deep failures in youth detention and schools.
From historic child sex abuse charges in Tasmania, to disturbing assault footage from a Sydney youth justice centre, to alarming paedophile links uncovered at a Queensland boarding school—these reports paint a grim picture of systemic abuse, cover-ups, and the long fight for justice.
Shocking CCTV footage reveals alleged assault at Reiby Youth Justice Centre
CCTV footage from Reiby Youth Justice Centre has surfaced, allegedly showing a male officer violently assaulting an 18-year-old female detainee.
The incident, which occurred in July 2018, shows the officer grabbing the young woman by the arm and neck at lunchtime with fellow detainees, throwing her across the room, and pinning her face down with the assistance of multiple officers before she was handcuffed and forcibly moved to another room.
The woman, now 25 and speaking out for the first time, described the experience as “very belittling.”
“I didn’t realise how vicious it really was until I watched it… It just kind of feels like you’re a piece of trash that’s being thrown at the ground.”
She reported extensive bruising and an arm injury from the incident. She recalled screaming for her asthma puffer, saying, “I remember screaming that I couldn’t breathe and that I needed my asthma puffer.”
After a three-year legal battle, the Department of Communities and Justice released the footage to the ABC. Despite the gravity of the incident, the officer involved was found to have committed misconduct but was only fined a small amount, monitored for six months, and allowed to continue working at the centre.
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds expressed concern over the officer’s continued employment.
“It doesn’t seem proportionate to what’s shown on the video; that’s a very serious assault on the face of it.”
She, along with NSW Shadow Minister for Youth Justice Aileen MacDonald, is calling for an independent inquiry into this and other incidents of alleged excessive force at youth detention centres.
The woman has since received a confidential settlement from the NSW government and is advocating for improved conditions in youth detention facilities to protect future detainees from similar experiences.
Former Ashley Youth Detention Centre staffer dragged back to Tasmania over child abuse claims
A 64-year-old former employee of Ashley Youth Detention Centre has been arrested and charged with horrific child sexual abuse offences—in a case police say links directly to the state’s bombshell abuse inquiry.
The man is facing 11 counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault, and two counts of indecency. Tasmania Police say the charges relate to three victim-survivors, with some alleged offences dating back as far as 1974, and others committed while the man worked at Ashley between 1990 and 2021.
Ashley was permanently shut down in 2024 following scathing findings from the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings.
Police Commissioner Donna Adams confirmed the man is set to face court on June 11. The arrest follows two other major charges laid this week, including a 62-year-old man accused of historical rape and a 57-year-old facing rape and parole breach charges.
“While it is acknowledged that offences of this nature are deeply disturbing, Tasmania Police strongly encourages anyone with information about any form of sexual abuse, regardless of the passage of time, to come forward and report it.”
Paedophile ring fears at Queensland boarding school
A 2022 report by Catholic Church education officials uncovered chilling connections between convicted paedophiles and other staff accused of child abuse at a rural Queensland boarding school, sparking fears of a possible paedophile ring operating in plain sight.
The report, now in the hands of Queensland Police, exposes ties between seven men who worked at St Teresa’s College in Abergowrie between 1989 and 2012. Three of them have since been jailed for child sex crimes, including former boarding master David Justin Crisp, who was recently caught after spending more than 30 years on the run.
It’s now emerged that these men weren’t acting alone.
The report suggests they had close personal and professional ties, with some helping each other land jobs at the school and even allegedly targeting the same victims. In one shocking revelation, Crisp and then-principal James Doran were both accused of abusing students, raising the possibility they were working together.
Former detective Alastair McDougall, who issued Crisp’s original arrest warrant in 1993, didn’t hold back.
“When you look at who was there at the time and what positions they held, and the allegations proven and unproven against them, those boys just didn’t stand a chance.”
“It was like Russian roulette… because the weight of numbers of paedophiles at the school was completely against them.”
Townsville Catholic Education boss Jacqui Francis admitted the system had failed.
“We acknowledge the historical abuse and the pain and suffering that past students have been subjected to.”
The report, titled Connections at St Teresa’s College, paints a disturbing picture of how alleged predators were able to operate under the radar for years, shielded by silence and institutional neglect.
